Contrasts in living standards in India make it imperative that urban planning ensures equitable distribution of employment avenues, housing and basic infrastructure. Affordable transport systems facilitating convenient access from homes to workplaces are as critical as educational, commercial, and recreational opportunities.

The RIBA Lubetkin Prize 2009 winner is The National Stadium Beijing by Herzog & de Meuron with China Architectural Design & Research Group and Arup Sport for National Stadium Company.

The National Stadium in Beijing – nicknamed ‘the bird’s nest’ – by Herzog & de Meuron, with the China Architectural Design and research Group, Arup Sport and Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong, and artist Ai Wei Wei, has scooped the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) prestigious Lubetkin Prize for the most outstanding work of architecture outside the European Union by an RIBA member.

The presentation of the RIBA’s Lubetkin Prize will took place at a ceremony on the 14th July at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Whitehall, sponsored by Cosentino and in partnership with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI). Winners of 2009 RIBA International Awards will also receive their awards at the ceremony.

Green finger syndrome is sweeping China’s modern cities as more and more stressed out office workers seek solace by growing their own tomatoes and cabbages among the concrete high rises

Yu Kongjian, dean and professor of the Graduate School of Landscape Architecture at Peking University said such amateur urban agriculture was good therapy for stressed out office workers and their families.

“What the office workers want is a healthy living style away from the office, such gardens help all generations. The joy brought by labor and harvest also has educational benefits to the young generation and brings memories alive to the older generation,” he said.

Ho Chi Minh City will be turned into a greener, bigger urban zone with the city centre being expanded in all four directions, linking up with urban areas in neighbouring provinces, according to recent re-zoning plans.

Following the master plan for Ho Chi Minh city until 2025, the city will now be expanded to the west and southwest, in addition to the three directions previously agreed upon in the 1998 master plan: east, south, north and northwest.

The master plan, jointly drawn up by Ho Chi Minh City Urban Planning Institute and Japanese consultant Nikken Seikei………..